The Production Guild of Great Britain has this week launched an enhanced package of online member services as part of its new and improved website.

“At a time when the UK is globally recognised as the destination of choice for so many international film and programme makers, demand for crew is consistently high. We’re delighted to launch our new website which will better support the job seeking and career development needs of our members. Amongst the most skilled professionals in the world, it’s their hard work that helps the UK deliver outstanding results and maintain its reputation for production excellence.” – Alison Small, CEO of The Production Guild

The site has, the body note, been designed to link productions to UK crew faster and more efficiently and to better support members with career development. Developed in response to the dramatic rise in production levels that the UK’s film & TV industry has seen in past years, the site’s features have been developed to facilitate better communication and connectivity between productions and PG’s 900 members working in film or television within the production office, production accounts, location management, VFX, post-production or assistant directing roles.

The updated online presence now offers a more comprehensive service, providing more accurate information than ever before about creative members availability, professional skills and experience, different types of work they are seeking and on what basis. New date functions, availability blocks and extra information fields allow members to state exactly when they are free for work.

There is also an improved Production Update section that has been rebuilt to give members a more comprehensive picture of UK projects than ever before. Search functionality has been improved so that progress of projects in different stages of development and production around the country can be checked, helpful for regional members working outside London and the South East. Member Resources with best practice tips and advice on issues including part time working, industry agreements, box rental, health and safety, latest HMRC updates, UK and international tax relief, paying international talent, holiday pay calculations, accessing trainees, auto enrolment and the apprenticeship levy.

“We’re particularly excited to present our improved Availability Service which, with new date functionality, allows productions to search for crew in a more targeted way than ever before. We’re confident this will be an invaluable tool that will make it easier for crew to find their next project within this freelance industry, whilst helping productions identify the perfect candidates for their future crewing needs. We hope it will also help our members obtain more flexible working patterns during busy periods of industry activity.” – – Alison Small, CEO of The Production Guild

BFI statistics show that in 2016 the spend on film production in the UK reached the highest level on record at £1.6bn, a 13% increase on the previous year, with £1.35bn being spent by major inward investment films including Disney’s Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Independently produced domestic titles including Clio Barnard’s Dark River, Andy Serkis’s Breathe and Gurinder Chadha’s Viceroy’s House represented a spend of £206m.

There was also significant growth in spend from international high-end television production in 2016, with 36 television productions generating a UK spend of £477.8m – up 11% on the year before. Programmes included the second series of The Crown, the seventh series of Games of Thrones, Fortitude, The White Princess and the third series of Outlander.

The body continues to offer its training programme with regular masterclasses, seminars and events with industry experts. It also celebrates the successes of its members in The Production Guild of Great Britain Awards, which will next take place in 2018.

“One of PG’s key priorities is to support members at every stage of their careers, from new entrants starting out, to seasoned professionals who have been integral to the production of some of the biggest titles ever made. With the support of PG’s affiliates, we can tap into a whole network of experienced professionals whose expertise can be shared with those coming up in the industry. That’s why the PGVision platform has been developed further – to boost the sense of legacy within the industry whilst enabling the next generation of professionals to learn directly from the best.” – Guy Barker, Chairman of The Production Guild and Financial Controller

The Elstree Studios in Borehamwood continue to house major UK movie productions.